Little Secrets
by Lollipop456
Summary: When Bubba's younger sister is murdered, Bubba is on the warpath. Could her loving husband really be a killer? Or was Bubba's sister not at all like he remembered growing up? WARNING: I've not seen all of the season seven episodes, so I might have Bubba's rank wrong.


This was a day that Captain Bubba Skinner had been looking forward to. His sister, Nora, was coming from Gulfport with her two kids. He waited anxiously by the window of Sparta Police Department and couldn't help but smile when he saw that familiar Chevy parking in the lot. He rushed outside and was able to open the car door for Nora. She looked a little bit different than the rest of the Skinner siblings; blonde hair, green eyes, a bit on the shorter side. It was a running joke in the family that she weren't even a Skinner; it wasn't true, of course, she just happened to look more like the Barnes side of the family, that being their mother's maiden name.

"Hey, honey!" Bubba hugged his sister tight.

"Oh, Bubba, I've missed you so much! Why I haven't seen you for almost five months now."

"I've been meaning to visit, really I have, it's just I've got my duties, you know?"

Nora smiled. "Yeah, well, I haven't exactly been keeping up with my social calendar either. Molly and Ray Junior keep me on my toes."

"Incidentally, you gonna let those two young'uns out?"

"Sure am." Nora opened the back door of the car and five-year-old Molly crawled out of the backseat.

"Well, lookee here." Bubba picked up Molly. "Girl, you looking more like your Mama every day."

Nora grabbed the car seat that held seven-month-old Ray Junior and gently shushed Bubba. "He's still napping."

"Come on, let's go inside now." Bubba whispered.

Nora and Bubba entered the building, and it didn't take long for Luann to go up to the two.

"Well, are we making arrests now?" Luann asked.

"On what charge, may I ask?" Nora quipped.

"Oh, staying away too long. It's been a year since you've been by here, we've missed you!"

Nora laughed and hugged Luann. "I've missed ya'll too. I just wish that I could stay longer."

"What do you mean?" Bubba asked.

"That's really the reason why I came here in the first place. I've got a job interview over at the cafe; Ray has a good job and brings in a decent salary, but I feel guilty about him having to be the breadwinner and being stressed all the time and not spending time with the kids. I thought if I got a job, we could sort of divide the duties. Besides, if I got a job here in Sparta, we might even consider moving back for good."

"That's a fine idea, and I'd love to have you back here, but I don't understand-"

"Bubba, I need you to babysit the kids. It's only for a few hours. If I happen to be late, Ray said he'd pick them up on his way back home from Jackson. I would've left them at home, but their regular babysitter is sick with a cold. Please Bubba, just do this for me? Please?"

"Sure, I will, but-"

"Thanks." Nora kissed Bubba on the cheek and then handed the car seat over to Bubba. "I'll go get his diaper bag out of the car."

Nora rushed outside, while Bubba could only stand there dumbfounded with his niece and nephew in his arms.

"Guess we'll be working overtime today." Luann said.

"Yeah, I guess." Bubba said, still pretty surprised.

The babysitting didn't go as bad as Bubba thought it would; it was thankfully a quiet day in Sparta, with only parking violations and the ocassional brawl to sort out and so most of the other officers were able to pitch in. Still, as the hours went by, with no sign of Nora or Ray; everyone was getting a little bit worried, especially Bubba who couldn't help but pace around the station. When the clock struck eight, Bubba entered Chief Forbes office, where Chief Forbes was sitting behind his desk with Molly asleep in his lap.

"Chief, it's been too long." Bubba said quietly.

"Has she ever been known to be late?" Forbes asked.

"Well, she's always done things at her own pace, but never this slow."

Forbes sighed. "She know alot of people here? She might of got caught up talking to an old friend."

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, where is Ray? Nora said he would pick up the kids if she was running late."

"Maybe, it's about time you called him."

"Not a bad idea. She left me the number for his car phone."

Bubba stepped out of the office, picked up the phone at his desk, and quickly dialed his brother-in-law's number; it only rung twice before there was the click of it being picked up from the receiver.

"Raymond Weiss here." Ray said.

"Ray? It's Bubba."

"Hey! How's my favorite brother-in-law?" Ray asked in his usual cheery voice.

"I'm fine, Ray, just fine. Listen, just where are you right now?"

"Oh, I'm stuck in traffic. My meeting was about two hours longer than expected. Didn't Nora tell you all this?"

"No, she didn't."

"I got off the phone with her hours ago and told her I wasn't going to be able to pick up the kids; she said she would call you after she hung up with me."

Bubba felt his stomach drop. Something wasn't right here. There was no way Nora wouldn't leave her kids alone for this long.

"Ray, did Nora happen to say where she was calling from?"

"She told me she was at Magnolia Cafe. Is that place still open?"

"Yeah, it is. Listen Ray, I have to let you go now."

"Bubba, is something wrong over there?"

"No, everything's fine. You just drive safely and don't worry about nothing."

Bubba hung up the phone just as Luann came up to his desk, holding Ray Junior in her arms.

"Who was that?" Luann asked.

Bubba sighed. "It was Ray. He told me that he's been stuck in Jackson for hours and that he called Nora to say he couldn't pick up the kids."

"Why didn't she call us?"

"That's exactly what I'm gonna find out. Can you all handle the kids while I go and find her?"

"Sure, we can."

Bubba nodded quickly and gave a nervous smile before heading out of the building.

At the Sparta motel, the usual spat between a hooker and her customer was going on. The man didn't want to pay full price, and the young lady responded by throwing a lamp at his head. She then stormed out of the room and took her cigarettes out of her purse.

"Who does he think he is? He thinks he did all the work?"

The woman stepped behind the motel and leaned against a dumpster. She took out her cigarette lighter and lit one of the cigarettes. After taking a few puffs, she couldn't help but look down. She screamed and ran off as fast as her heels could take her. She ran to the front office and picked up the phone and quickly dialed it.

"Operator, this is an emergency. Can you get me the Sparta police? A woman's been killed." The woman said quickly, her voice trembling.


End file.
